Thursday, May 24, 2012

On Today's Vintage Shopping Adventure

We now interrupt this blog’s regular style of writing for a brief account of my visit to an antique shop…

Today I visited a lovely vintage shop where, in addition to getting to see a great deal of really neat antiques, I made some wonderful vintage sewing finds, which I’m quite excited about! The place I went to had things crammed in absolutely everywhere, so both items I found took quite a bit of digging, but they were definitely worth the search.

The first thing I found was a book called Cutting Out & Making Up of Garments (formerly entitled Cutting Out For Student Teachers according to the front inside cover) written by Amy K. Smith.  It was located in a back corner, underneath a mannequin (wearing a rather annoying outfit that kept getting in the way, I might add), in a large bucket of sewing supplies,  behind what I believe was pedestal-stand candy dish filled with bias tape and various rick-rack, and several 1960’s patterns. And how, one might ask, did I notice it underneath and behind all these things? By seeing the cute little heart on the top corner sticking out and having to know what book it belonged to!
Isn't it pretty?
It was printed in London and covers all manners of things such as knickerbockers, pinafores, and sleeping suits, so I shall now feel quite prepared should I ever happen to make any of these.

The second thing I found after rummaging about in a trunk containing a variety of table cloths, scarves, and linens was a small bundle of fabric scraps. I spotted the blue flowered and pink striped piece and for some reason instantly fell in love with it. My first thought was that it would be perfect for curtains, but as I don’t have a small window to make curtains for, I might just make a bag out of it.
My three pretty fabrics

All in all, it was a fun shopping excursion and I will definitely be going back again to look for more treasures!

And now back to the regular blogging style…please stay tuned for the next blog post on ladybirds!

Friday, May 4, 2012

On Alice in Wonderland Day

Today marks the 160th anniversary of the birth of Alice Liddell, the real Alice for who the story of Wonderland was originally written. Born in 1852, Alice Pleasance Liddell was the fourth child of Henry and Lorina Liddell, became the wife of Reginald Hargreaves in 1880, and was the mother of three children. Today in Llandudno a celebration in honor of her birthday included jam tart eating and dressing as characters from the book, among other things.

So, while the day is coming to a close, hopefully you have found some time to have a caucus-race, attend a mad tea-party, to eat a tart, to play croquet with your pet hedgehog and flamingo, or to maybe to have just sat down and read Lewis Carroll’s wonderful book, which takes place on May 4th. Happy Alice in Wonderland Day!